Share via e-mail

FOXBOROUGH — The father-in-law of Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis, John Odom, was among those hurt in the explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon Monday. The girlfriend of defender Chris Tierney also was injured.

“He’s still in critical condition,” said Reis. “He was alert this morning, but he’s been through three surgeries now in the last 40 hours or so.

“We just want John to get better and to turn the corner and show some strides of recovery. We’re still not sure if he’s out of the woods yet, and we still don’t know if he’s going to make it.”

Reis, who has not participated in the Revolution’s training sessions since the incident, stopped by Wednesday to thank his teammates for their support and update them on his father-in-law’s status. Reis, too,
was near the area where the explosions occurred.

“We were at the finish line,” he said. “My wife was running it, and we were all there to help and support her. We were all milling around that area in front of Marathon Sports, and that’s where the bomb went off.”

Reis’s wife, Nicole, who was running to benefit the New England Patriots charitable foundation, was “probably about 7-10 minutes away from finishing,” according to Reis.

Although most of the group of seven Reis was with had moved away from Marathon Sports, his father-in-law was close to the first explosion.

“He was probably 10 feet from the blast and a little bit to the right, if you’re going away from the finish line,” Reis said. “We were right there probably a minute before, and we had moved closer to the finish line.”

Reis reacted quickly, trying to help people after the blast.

“It was like a cannon going off,” he said. “At first I thought that it was part of the race, but I knew it wasn’t. I wanted to try and get back there and helped as much as I can.

“My son was on my shoulders, so I handed him over to my brother-in-law. I knew [the explosion] was right back where we were, so I tried to get back in there and help.”

When the Revolution get back in action Saturday with a game against the Red Bulls in New York, they will wear black armbands to honor the dead and injured.

“You miss being around the guys,” said Reis. “I just wanted to let them know that the love, prayers, and special thoughts they’ve been sending to me have not gone unnoticed.

“It’s been difficult to keep up with it, but I just wanted to give them an update as to what’s going on.”

This has been a tumultuous stretch for the Revolution, who announced last week that defender Kevin Alston had been diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia and would take a leave of absence to undergo treatment.